[Elendil]

2008-09 Offseason Hot Stove

As expected, the Oilers, Nicks, and to a lesser extent Senators were active players on the free agent market. The Mushers also dipped their toes into the FA pool, but they were far more active as traders, attempting to build up a minor league system that would assure them future domination. The Ketchikan King Salmon had some money to play around with, but in an effort to shore up fan loyalty, they concentrated on re-signing their key players. Although they had some money, the Miners largely stood pat. Let's take a look at some of the offseason highlights.

North Pole Nicks

The league champions would have to defend their title financially. Vincent Leroux, the two-time All-Star catcher (lifetime stats: .316/.413/.552) was a free-agent, as were their starting 3B and CF, Harry Jewers and Landon Phillips. Jewers and Phillips were basically little better than replacement level, though, but the Nicks also had a hole at short, where Brian Keith had been an offensive black hole and Ron Bishop a defensive black hole. Starting pitcher Ron Quinton (2.45 ERA) was also testing the market.

The Nicks re-signed Leroux to a stunning seven-year, $590,000 contract. That may have worked out to a reasonable sum on a per-year basis, but the length of the contract was a mighty statement. However, Quinton, Jewers, and Phillips all got away. In addition, pitcher Murdock Hobbs (7-1, 2.26) was controversially lost on waivers to the Goldpanners. He had just signed a league-minimum one-year extension at age 40.

That was more than made up for with another signing at catcher: Alan Sellick, another two-time All-Star who had hit .310/.390/.529 the last two years with Kodiak. What would they do with two catchers? Well, Sellick was better defensively, so he would start at catcher, and Leroux would move to first base. That left Sloan Starr the odd man out, but he would move readily to shortstop, solving the team's deficiency at that position. That GM Ron Miller was a canny one.

Edison Dwyer, who had hit .257/.333/.500 last year with Sitka, was brought in to play third. Still just 24, he would make $21,000 a year over the next three years.

The Nicks stole away another Grizzly, nabbing 33 year old center fielder Dominique Gaudet, perhaps overpaying him at roughly $40K for 4 years (he hit .270/.350/.437 last year).

As for the last starting pitcher position, left-handed fireballer Chance Major would be moved into the rotation (66 K's in 55 IP last year! But a 4.07 ERA). The team hired some marginal relievers to round out the bullpen.

If anything, the Nicks would be much scarier this year than last.

Peninsula Oilers

The Oilers were flush with cash but initially focused on re-signing their top players, while letting some nonproducers move on. Starter Jeff Simmons (6-7, 3.75 but .258 BABIP last year) was re-signed to a 3-year, $150,000 contract. Reliever Doug Miles (4.52 ERA, 62 IP) got a two-year extension. 2007 All-Star second baseman Tommy Lambert was re-signed at $44K per year for 3 years. 2007 All-Star third baseman Xander Eggert (.287/.378/.483 career) was brought back relatively inexpensively, $28K per year for three years.

But in October, the team got more aggressive. Ron Quinton was lured away from the Nicks for $93,000 over two years, a handsome salary for a guy who threw just 81 innings last year and was still 24.

The team also made a multiplayer trade with aggressively rebuilding Bethel. The Oilers got two young relievers with AKL experience - Mark Myers (career 4.52 ERA) and Rick Calder (career 4.22 ERA) - in exchange for the rights to four amateurs, most notably Japanese-born Kokei Memoto, 23 years old and itching to play professionally, and rumored to throw in the mid-90s (that would be the hardest fastball in the league).

In November, starting pitcher Leif Morris, who had pitched in Chugiak and Sitka last year, came on board. With a 9-11 career mark, 4.58 ERA, he was hardly a dominator and cost only $28K per year for 2 years.

The Oilers possibly got a real steal in shortstop Bill Duval, a former Jet, who hit .264/.350/.539 with 27 HR last year. He signed a one-year, $9000 deal shortly before Christmas.

Overall, though, the Oilers disappointed their fans somewhat with their signings, bringing in some bench players and relievers who wouldn't make that much of a difference. By mid-March, they still had almost $80,000 left to spend to break even next year.

Bethel Mushers

The Mushers' big offseason acquisition was right fielder Brent Crowe (career .304/.378/.526), who had played the last two seasons with the Senators. However, the Mushers had a plan in mind. Two months later, they dealt Crowe to Kodiak for top catching prospect Jeffrey Hubert, who had hit .319/.402/.511 in the Training League last year.

The Mushers' big trade with the Oilers has already been mentioned. They also made a sharp deal with the King Salmon, bringing in first base prospect Flynn O'Leary and shortstop prospect Walt Duff for long reliever Randy Wright, whose career ERA was an ugly 5.74. Neither O'Leary nor Duff was likely to become a world-beater, but that was a heck of a return for an apparent scrap-heap reliever.

In a perhaps less astute move, the Mushers signed the Jets' 33 year old closer, Loren Coleman (career 4.66 ERA) to $25K/year for 2 years with a team option for the 3rd year at $25K. However, they made up for it shortly thereafter by shelling out only $44K per year for Kelyn Birley, the Bucs outfielder who had hit .308/.381/.541 over the past two years. Then they went and spoiled it again by spending $76K over two years for Newt Langille, the Jets starting pitcher (brother of slugger Dave Langille) who has sported a 4.60-4.61 ERA each of the last two years.

Overall, though, Bethel stayed to a rebuilding tack, trading away 24 year old SP Ryan Dye (career 3.70) to the Grizzlies for two even younger pitchers, most notably two-time Training League All-Star Phillippe Bisaillon.

The Mushers were able to nab Vincent Robinson on the FA market, who had won the ERA title with the Glacier Pilots in 2007. He asked for only $22K per.

All in all, the Mushers might actually improve this year, but they had set themselves up fairly well for the future regardless.

Juneau Senators

Juneau made one aggressive move this offseason. They signed SP Quinn Spence, who had gone 19-13 with a 3.97 ERA with Fairbanks in two seasons (well below league average), to a 4-year, $233,000 deal.

Other than that, they made some small, sensible deals, bringing in a fourth and fifth outfielder and a new closer on the cheap.

However, they did lose Brent Crowe to Bethel (and thence to Kodiak) and Sam Hayashi to Ketchikan.

Ketchikan King Salmon

The Hayashi signing was an important one for Ketchikan. He was 34 and had hit only .277/.364/.446 last year, not great for a first baseman, but was noted for his leadership capabilities, and he cost just $15,000.

The $62K over two years that threw at George Henneberry, latterly of Fairbanks, was more perplexing. He could field and run well, but his hitting was terrible for a corner outfielder: .243/.300/.395 career.

Otherwise, Ketchikan spent their kitty on big-ticket re-signings and extensions for their key players. Like the Leroux signing in North Pole, the six-year contracts signed by Carl White and John Mack raised plenty of eyebrows. This didn't look like prudent financial planning for a small-market team with a temporary surplus.

Other Teams

Most other teams were relatively quiet over the offseason, hiring some personnel, signing some extensions, and offering some minor league contracts, but there were a couple other big deals not yet mentioned.

1) The Sitka Sentinels signed 25 year old starter John Dewitt away from the Bucs for $43K/year, for 3 years. Career record: a solid 20-13, 3.57.

2) The Bucs replaced Dewitt with an inferior substitute, former Musher Pete Strelioff (career ERA: 4.34), paying him about $85,000 over 3 years.